Leaving RWA and other crap, as I try not to whine about my issues

I haven't blogged since January. It's been over eight months of silence. In that six months, I made some major changes in my writing life. I took a long over due break from writing anything. With that I decided to leave RWA.
Let me say this much, I have a lot of appreciation for RWA. They taught me how to write a novel, then sell it. When I first joined the group 19yrs ago, one had to have a agent. I do mean you had to have one, or the book didn't sell. Self-publishing or as it's called today, Independent publishing, was known as Vanity press. If an author, did a vanity press, well, that meant you weren't good enough to sell to a publishing house. And you had to pay to get the book published. It didn't come cheap. No Amazon, no B&N, no online tablets or Kindles, nothing. An author had to have a agent to find any success. Then you were lucky to see your book last longer then 40 days on the shelf. That is still true today, in brick and mortar stores. 
At RWA conferences, I got requests from agents/editors for fulls, for partials, for the usual first three chapters. Nothing ever came from any of it. Now much older, a bit wiser, I know I was just fooling myself. It wasn't my writing, or storytelling, it was the fact, I didn't write or read romance..Yes, I joined a organization, that promoted romance, a genre, I don't write, or rarely read. I do mean rarely. It has to be one hell of a good book, for me to read it from front to back. Those, at least for me are, rare. Rare as Bigfoot walking into campsite, waving a sparkler, singing the Star Spangled Banner.
At RWA conferences, I felt like a square peg, trying to fit into a round hole. All the promotional covers of bestselling authors, were romances, I had no idea were out there. I recognized some names, especially those who belonged to local RWA chapters, and of course the real biggies, like Nora Roberts. I'd sit at lunches, with authors at the table that to everyone around me was well known, accept me. I'd smile, pretend I was familiar with there works, mostly I'd just sit quietly, feeling like on some level of the universe, I should know this person. Like during a macroscopic quantum phenomenon. Yep, pretty much, it was as tiny as an atom, and if I opened my big mouth to ask, "Who are you again?" It would have behaved like one.
I usually returned home from the conferences, with renewed writing juices, but exhausted. The energy in the air was overwhelming. So many hopeful people, so much desperation. It left me 'non compos mentis', a nice Latin term, that meant, I lost my mind. Yep, pretty much. It was lost in some other city, in a crowed hotel elevator full of hopeful writers, who just knew they had the next big Fifty Shades of Gray. A book I couldn't get past the first three pages. When that subject came up, I'd crawl back into my atom infested world, and smile.
I also came home with boxes of free books. Some signed by authors, that were favorites of friends and family. Once I sorted through everything, passed out the signed ones, the rest went to the used bookstore for a credit.
Overall, I've met a lot of nice people. I also have lost more friends then I kept. I belonged to three different blogs, that were connected to RWA. All three imploded, leaving friendships frayed and lost.
I went as far as to form a local RWA chapter. It lasted eight years. Meetings and membership fell off, and it was time to close our doors. The board fell into a battle over what to do with money left in the chapter account. When money enters into friendships, everything goes south. This was no acceptation. Hurt feelings, friendships in the tank, we closed the chapter down and we all went our separate ways. That was eight months ago.
In July when my membership to RWA was due, I just filed it away in a deep file of the forgotten. It wasn't a easy decision, but once I made it, I was okay. When this years conference came along, all the pictures were posted on FB. Looking at them, I knew I had made the right choice. All the pictures of friendships and meeting the big names in publishing smiled back at me. RWA has a wonderful networking system through their online classes, conferences, chapter meetings and loops. I just never took advantage of it, because I didn't write romance, and didn't want too. I could see my old square corners popping up again in all the party descriptions and happy group pictures.
I may write another book someday, never say never. But I know my days in the world of romance writers is indeed behind me.
RWA was mostly a good experience, with some let downs and disappointments. My time there is over, now to move on to the next chapter.
    
 

The Writer's Guide to avoid to much over indulgance at the RWA Conference

Here we are just a week away from the RWA conference. I’ve worked hard to lose the 12lbs for the conference. I have missed my goal, which I might make by Monday when I’ll be driving down to L.A.

Now the challenge of not to over eat, over drink and over indulge in more chocolate then I need in a lifetime. I plan on staying on my diet plan, or stay pretty close to it. Because I’m staying at a friends condo, I do have access to a kitchen, which means I will prepare some of my meals. Most likely it will be breakfast, since I’ll be at the conference hotel the majority of the day. I’ll be meeting with friends for dinner and drinks here and there. I’m really not going to worry too much about it since I’m there to have a good time.

Plan on gaining weight. Travel creates stress hormones that can cause the body to retain water, which translates into blotting. Air travel especially is fantastic for this little bad habit of our bodies. Being away from home, eating at odd hours can also cause those same stress hormones to explode. Add putting foods in your system you haven’t eaten in a while, along with high sugar deserts and alcohol, plan on gaining at least 5lbs, even with exercise. The good news, when you get home and back to your normal routine, it will all go away very quickly.

How to avoid too much weight gain:

• Eat a balanced breakfast. I know I sound like a commercial. Make sure part of the breakfast contains some kind of protein. Eggs, with toast and fruit, will keep carvings down, and the hunger at bay. Protein is the most important part of this because it balances your glycemic index.
• Avoid too much caffeine. I know I’m talking to a bunch of writers, whose life line is coffee and chocolate. Caffeine can stimulate the appetite, which if you allow yourself to get too hungry and can cause some over eating of the wrong kind. Like chocolate. Essentially what it does is cause your sugar to drop, which translates to feelings of starvation.
• If possible carry a little healthy snack in a purse. Nuts, with trail mix or fruit. It helps with the carving by keeping the sugars in your body balanced.
• Drink tons of water. At every opportunity drink water. Carry a bottle with you in your bag. Again it helps keep the body flushed and sugars balanced.
• At the RWA luncheons, try to keep it balanced. I’ll eat usually a vegetarian lunch, so I can get extra vegetables for the day. Then eat a regular meal at dinner for the protein. I try not to eat all the pasta on the plate, especially if its covered in white sauce. If there is a choice between white and red, go with the red. The same with wine, red is healthier. 
• If you can resist the rich deserts the hotel offers at the luncheons and dinners, pass them off to someone else, or just send the waiter away with it. 
• Alcohol. Think this, for every drink, drink as much water. It will keep the body flushed and sober. Don’t drink to excess, hangovers are another diet killer, and the water retention will really show.
• The chocolate. Dark chocolate has the least amount of sugar and is actually good for you. Try to stay with that if possible. Nibble small pieces if you can't resist and slowly. 

The main thing have a good time, and try to practice some of this while having that good time, and you'll come home less blotted. One thing to remember, if you can stay away from processed foods, do it. It will add to a already stressed body. Eat healthy greens and fresh fruits when available. If the hotel your staying at will bring a refrig up to your room, take advantage of it to store healthier foods. I don't eat dairy. So for me to avoid dairy at conferences at times can be a challenge, which is why I like to have a refrig where I can keep my coconut creamer, almond milk, and the breads I eat that aren't whole grain. Yes, I don't eat whole grains. I try to stay gluten free if possible.

Eating at a convention is a challenge if your trying to be good. Enjoy yourself and make that u-turn when you get home. For now do the best you can and don't stress, because stress hormones will set your glycemic index on it's head and ask your body to store fat. The best advice, remember don't spike your sugar, because you'll crash feel tried and hungry..Keep it balanced. 

The Writer's Guide to a Stalled Diet

One of the biggest problems most dieters face is the stalled diet. The reason behind this is your body has suddenly become use to your diet and exercise program. It’s settled in, you’ve lost weight, and now it seems like your just maintaining your new weight.

The first part of your diet is the greatest weight loss. Part of it is water, and then the body adjust to no more fatty rich foods, and the weight comes off. Then suddenly stops. You stay the same weight for weeks.

The best thing to do, if you’re not doing this already is eat six small meals a day. Look at your caloric intake, what you’re allowing yourself in calories, and divide into six. Say if you’re eating 1200 calories a day, you have six 200 calorie meals a day, with lots of water in-between. Yes, you’ll be running to restroom often. But you need to flush the system of toxins released by your sudden healthy eating.

If you’re already doing the six meals, try this. Reduce any other fatty items you can in your diet and reduce carbs. That little piece of chocolate might have to go for the time being. Then increase your caloric intake with a healthier item, or replace less carbs with lean protein. Yes, increase, do not decrease calories. Then add, if humanly possible another 15mins of aerobic exercise, such as a longer faster walk or run. The body will kick start again and the weight will start to come off once more.

It’s important to stimulate your metabolism with healthy food. By not eating enough of the right food, the body will hang on to the fat. It’s often called the ‘starvation mode'. For a dieting body to go into starvation mode, it takes a long time of not eating enough, or not eating enough of the right food. The body has a mini rebellion and refuses to let go of fat.

To get the body going, add more healthy foods to your diet, increasing the caloric intake and reduce carbs or anything with added sugars. The body will automatically respond, by working to burn those calories, which in turn burns fat. 

Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way with fatty foods. If you increase your caloric intake of foods that are high in sugars and fat, like a fast food hamburger, all you do is feel sluggish and bloated while the body tries to fight through the garbage to digest it. Once you get done, you feel like crap, and hate yourself for eating it. The moral of the story don’t try to stimulate the metabolism with unhealthy food. The key is feeling sluggish after eating too much of something unhealthy. The body is trying to tell you something, like its fighting to digest it.

How to solve the problem:

• Increase caloric intake with healthy food.
• Reduce carbohydrates and increase lean protein.  
• Increase meals to six a day.  
• Eliminate any remaining fatty food from your diet.  
• Reduce dairy products.
• Increase aerobic exercise.

Another reason for stalled weight loss, is gaining muscle weight. If you are working out in a gym in combination of aerobics, machines and weights, most likely you're gaining muscle. This is a good thing, because muscle is smaller, but heavier then fat. If this is the case, start to measure yourself, and that's were you'll see the changes, not on the scale. Still look at your diet carefully, to continue to decrease size you might need to reduce carbs and add more protein in the form of lean meats and protein shakes. Read the labels on protein shakes carefully, they can be high in calories and sugar for energy.

Next week the detox or cleanse. Do they work? 

How is RWA going to take Indies seriously?

Something I recently discovered that really pissed me off. And part of it has to do with a lot of complaining that goes about RWA's lack of recognition of Indie published authors.

I’ve been a member of RWA for 17yrs. I've seen a lot of changes, some good, some not so much. What has happened recently is the influx of the number of Indies has definitely taken them by surprise. To say they don't know how to handle it, is putting it mildly. They sent out their survey on the subject a couple of years ago. Not sure what the response was, but whatever it was, there were no changes made and Indies remained in the corner largely ignored. When there were a number of Indies who tried to form a chapter under their umbrella, it was turned down. On the brighter side of that, individual chapters are allowed to fully recognize Indies. It's just not at the National level. Most chapters do recognize their Indie members as published. RWA National has fully embraced that concept.

Like so many other indie authors, I would like nothing better than to see RWA recognize Indies in some way as published. But-this is where I get pissed. So, if it is so important for Indies to be recognized for our hard work, our professionalism and quality of writing, did only a small fraction of the 10,000 members of RWA respond to a new survey sent out a couple of months ago on Indie published members. Out of 10,000 members a very tiny fraction responded. When I say tiny, I mean it was less then a small handful. If it wasn't such a serious matter, it would be laughable at how many responded. It was embarrassing on the part of Indies who jump up and down over being the redheaded step-child of the organization .

Now tell me, how serious are they supposed to take us if only that small number responds out of so many authors? Right now RWA probably has more Indie authors then Legacy published, but I’m only guessing, and they can’t tell, because no one responded to such an important issue. Or I should say it’s supposed to be important to us, which makes me wonder.   

I can raise my hand and say I filled out the survey that took me less than five minutes of my valuable time, because as a voting member of the RWA, I want to be counted. Especially after 17yrs of paying dues to National, three land chapters, four on-line chapters and several conferences. If I can spend time responding and liking on Facebook, I certainly can fill out a form on this important issue.

Now RWA members have the new bylaws to review. Before anyone complains about lack of recognition, I suggest studying them, and if you’re going to National make a point of attending the General Board meeting to address the issue of Indies. Otherwise, you do not have the right to gripe about anything, especially anything concerning RWA and Independently published members.